Pat'sHits and Steps

"One may smile, and smile, and be a villain." (Shakespeare's Hamlet)

Smilin' Pat Robertson steps in it again reviews Pat's biggest hits, from 1981, when he called the U.S. Constitution �a marvelous document for the self-government by the Christian people,� to his recent call for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the socialist President of Venezuela.

Along the way, Grinnin' Pat claimed credit for redirecting hurricanes and even pontificated that the 9/11 attacks were God�s punishment for the USA�s embrace of �pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU, and the People for the American Way.�

As the Montgomery County, Texas Bulletin article reminds us in its recent Robertson profile, the net worth of this son of privilege is in excess of $100 million. Apparently the self-anointed prophet has forgotten the Good Book's admonition, �Ye cannot serve God and mammon.�

I would add that the santimonious Pat often ignores the Biblical commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." He overlooks the teachings of Jesus entirely, including the Sermon on the Mount and the commandment to "love thy neighbor as thyself." And let us not forget, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

But I digress. The article continues:

Many people initially followed Jesus when he was on Earth because they thought he would lead them in an armed revolt against the Roman empire and restore the Kingdom of Israel. Instead he declared, �My kingdom is not of this world.� But this has proved one of the most difficult of Christ�s teachings for his supposed followers to accept.

For 40 years the Democrats were the majority party in this country, partially because they had a lock on the lower-class, middle-class, and minority voters. The Republicans were stigmatized as chiefly a party of the wealthy and privileged.

But 25 years ago Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and other leaders of the Religious Right pledged the armies of their faithful to the service of Ronald Reagan and the GOP. This infusion of new blood revitalized the Republican Party, and moved its center of power from the country clubs and into the evangelical Christian churches -- and it made Robertson a king-maker and an influencer of public opinion.

There was a time when ministers were just supposed to evangelize, to counsel the broken of spirit, and provide charity for the down-trodden. Now, sad to say, many ministers seem more interested in amassing wealth and political power, building monuments to themselves, and in making their congregations into their own cults of personality. And the carpenter from Nazareth gets lost in the mix somewhere.

But despite all the controversies he�s generated, like the indestructible cockroach, Pat Robertson keeps on keeping on, spewing hate while hiding behind that insipid grin and the God whose name he daily profanes.

Do I hear an Amen?

(Republican Jesus photo from Jesus General)